“Yes. But if anyone asks, you never saw me.”
He stood and saluted. “Right. Bye, Jekyll.”
He left the pretty brunette alone with the dog and entered the great room again. When Hope found him right away, he turned his head from her, cupping his cheek.
“Gavin? Gavin, where were you?”
“My face. God. He has big hands.” A peek at her showed his sister had paled.
“Oh no. I was kidding. Seriously, no one bothered me at all. I…” She trailed off as he straightened, dropping his hand, and looked down his nose at her. “Asshole.” She marched off, her lack of concern for her dear brother heartbreaking.
Landon joined him. “So Mike finally got himself hitched again. Sucker.”
They snickered, though they were both pleased for their cousin. Mike’s first wife had died years ago in childbirth. That he’d found love again had surprised all of them. Gavin had to hand it to him. The guy had guts, opening himself to risk like that.
“Seen Theo?” he asked, not seeing his brother around.
Landon pursed his lips. “Maybe I have. Take a look. I sent Dad to find him.”
Gavin followed Landon’s gaze and saw their father walk up behind Theo, who was taking a sip of beer from a bottle clearly not his own. Then Gavin watched as Theo spit out what he’d been drinking and choked when their father patted him on the back.
“I take it you arranged everything?”
“What? Like getting my underage brother a beer with the promise not to tell anyone, then letting Dad know Theo was planning to take a drink? Nah. Not me. Must have been Hope who narced.”
“Nice.” Gavin chuckled. “So setting Theo up… You’re still thinking it was him that put the blow-up doll in your bed.” Back when Landon had been courting Ava, a doll looking suspiciously like her had ended up in his brother’s bed. Landon’s lips flattened, apparently still not amused with one hell of a prank. “Yeah, I do.”
“I do too.” Gavin knew Theo had done it. A work of genius. He had real hopes for his kid brother. “That or Hope.” Payback for throwing him at freakish Sam, the giant. “She’s shifty enough to do it, and she’d been the one upstairs alone that time. Remember how she bitched about my unclean bathroom?”Try to sucker me. Ha. That’ll teach you, Hope.
Landon’s eyes narrowed. “Good point. I’ll have to give Hope some of my personal attention too. Wouldn’t want her to feel left out.”
“You do that.”
After a pause, Landon glanced at him. “It’s kind of loud in here. Ava and I are planning to take off.”
“Me too.” Gavin felt relieved that he could leave without looking like a wuss. “Can I get a ride?”
Landon nodded, and Gavin thought maybe Landon felt the same about the noise. His brother had seen some shit overseas. Sand and hot sun, mortars, gunfire. Maybe Landon also felt closed in here with too many people, too much noise. The guy had Ava to help him, though, so Gavin didn’t overly worry about Landon’s state of mind. Not as if Big Brother ever had a problem he couldn’t handle anyway.
Gavin followed him back to Ava, musing on his evening. He’d spent some quality time with his cousins, who amused him for the most part. He’d found the courtyard and Jekyll. And he’d scammed his sister. So all in all, not a bad night.
Of course, going home to find Zoe York in his bed—minus her pink yoga pants—would have made the night perfect. But hey, he still had hope.Envision it, and it will come, he chanted to himself. And smiled.
* * *
Sunday morning at the gym, Zoe leg-pressed until her thighs shook. Missing her workout times had put her off schedule, and she felt like an addict undergoing withdrawal. But one of her training teams at work was dealing with an unexpected illness, so she’d had to take over his classes at one of the satellite clinics near Tacoma.
The hours this past week had been brutal. And ending on a Friday at six? The traffic had been hellacious, forcing her to miss the final self-defense class. She refused to think about how much she’d looked forward to it. Now she had no more excuses to watch Gavin Donnigan so carefully.
She’d done a lot of thinking the past week, and she’d grown tired of trying to maintain a careful distance between herself and the rest of the world. Zoe wasn’t by nature a withdrawn or morose individual. Yes, she worked hard, but she maintained a sense of humor and liked being around others. Not all the time, but enough to know she appreciated socializing.
Grieving her sister had taken its toll, and Zoe wanted to smile again, to feel alive.
One person had made her more aware of the world around her. Even though he spouted nonsense and thought a little too highly of himself, she’d finally admitted to herself that she wanted to know him better. Guns of Steel intrigued her, and she figured she could at least give him the chance to charm her before he inevitably did something stupid and she walked away.
She finished her leg presses in a less-crowded gym than she was used to, completed her circuit, and decided to finish up with a light jog to cool down. She’d spotted Gavin talking to one of the regulars while they both worked out. Obviously, he wasn’t on the clock today, yet he’d still come to the gym, as fanatical about routine and exercise as she was. As she watched him, her heart raced a lot faster than the easy jog required.
Zoe continued to run, studying Gavin in his natural environment. He smiled and laughed at something the older man with him said. Seeming at ease, Gavin looked too darn pretty to be working in a gym. With his smile and physique, he should be modeling for a protein powder or fitness magazine.
